The Strategist and The Songstress
by PiscesBaby
Summary: Coming off the heels of a unforeseen divorce, Lady Zhen finds comfort in the ambitious strategist.


**A/N: In this story, Lady Zhen didn't commit suicide. Cao Pi just divorced her for his concubine. Also, this takes place in 213, when Sima Shi was about 5 and Sima Zhao was about 2.**

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><p>Sima Zhao and Sima Shi were at Sima Yi's feet as he stared out the window at the awful sight before him. Lady Zhen, the most beautiful woman in all the land, had just been betrayed by her idiotic husband. To be misled by a mere concubine made Sima Yi laugh. "Imbecile!" Sima Yi shouted in the small room. it caused his two sons to look up at him with surprise. Zhao and Shi, the only good things to come out of his rather loveless marriage. A woman like his wife was supposed to be with a man with the mental incompetence of Cao Pi. A woman of beauty and grace like Lady Zhen was supposed to be with him.<p>

"Time to go for a walk, my sons," Sima Yi said as he picked up his two sons. Since Zhao was the more rowdy of the two, Sima Yi put him in a carrier and walked out his room with Shi holding his hand. As he reached the front of Xuchang Castle, he stopped. Lady Zhen was playing a melody from her flute and Sima Yi was simply mesmerized by the song. She played the flute with as much expertise as he devised his strategies. Such would be expected from a woman like Zhen Ji.

"Shi! Where are you going?" Sima Yi shouted at his son. The young boy ran down the steps of the Imperial Castle and ran up to Lady Zhen. She stopped her melody and looked down at Sima Shi. She smiled at him and picked him up so he would sitting next to her. Sima Yi smiled at the sight, but still ran frantically down the steps of the castle. With each step he took, Sima Zhao's head hit his back gently. "Shi, don't ever do that again!" Sima Yi scolded when he reached his oldest son. When he heard Lady Zhen laugh, he blushed slightly. He hid the blush in his face by picking up his eldest son and placing him in his lap and taking a seat next to Zhen Ji.

"If only you knew as much about parenting as you did about strategy, Zhongda," she teased. Since he had joined Wei, he and Lady Zhen would poke little jabs at each other when their spouses weren't around. He was glad to see that hadn't changed.

"Lady Zhen, I raise my sons and know not to be misled by a mere servant," Sima Yi teased back. Even though it was said jokingly, there was some seriousness in that. Everyone knew that Cao Pi didn't really want to have anything to do with Cao Rui because of his concubine, Guo Nuwang.

"Well, Lord Cao Pi wasn't worthy of my love, now was he Zhongda?" Lady Zhen asked him.

"Of course not, my lady."

Zhen looked at Sima Zhao fidgeting in the carrier. She smiled at the complete 180 from Sima Shi. "I think your son wants to get out." Lady Zhen lifted Zhao out the carrier and held him. He immediately pulled on a strand of her hair and rubbed it in between his fingers. She smiled at the young boy. "Observation is a part of strategy, is it not Lord Sima Yi?"

Sima Yi looked at his son and smiled. "Yes it is, my lady."

"Probably why Lord Cao Cao or Cao Pi will never achieve their goals of building this land under Wei," she said as she got up and paced in front of Sima Yi and Shi with Zhao still in her arms.

"What do you mean?"

"The biggest threat to their rule isn't Liu Bei of Shu or Sun Quan of Wu. It's you, Zhongda. You are ambitious, my lord. I could see it clearly."

Sima Yi was taken aback by the answer. He figured if Cao Cao or Cao Pi couldn't figure it out, then no one could. As he listened to Lady Zhen, he realized he was sadly mistaken on that fact. "Lady Zhen, you confuse ambitious with annoyance." Jia Xu was the only other person who saw ambition in the eyes of Sima Yi. He passed away recently so Sima Yi figured that no one else would notice. He was a little relieved to find out that Lady Zhen was the person to see it and not someone like else, like a member of the Xiahou clan.

"Annoyed with what, my lord?" Lady Zhen asked.

"The amount of fools running around here." Sima Yi got up and placed Shi on his feet. He took Zhao out of Zhen's arms and intertwined his fingers with hers. "Lady Zhen, if I had a woman like you at my side, I would never let a mere concubine come between us."

"Zhongda, how long have you felt this way?" she asked surprised at the confession.

"Since I joined Wei shortly after Yuan Shao's death. To steal you only to neglect you, truly the work of a complete imbecile." Sima Yi planted a kiss to her lips. "Come with me, Lady Zhen. Help me rid of fools with your melodies."

"My lord, such a generous offer, but what about your wife?"

Sima Yi rolled his eyes, "Her time will be up sooner than later. When it does, I wish for you to be mine."

Lady Zhen pulled Sima Yi in for a longer deeper kiss. "All that I am is now yours, Zhongda."


End file.
